6 Ardmore Terrace

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A three-bay, two-storey symmetrical terrace house built c.1850, located to the west of Ardmore Road, south east of Holywood. Rectangular on plan with two two-storey returns to rear.

Pitched natural slate roof with rectangular chimneystacks having stone plinth and terracotta pots; further chimneystacks to rear gable; square rendered chimney rising from ridgeline. Half-round rainwater goods on painted masonry eaves; uPVC rainwater goods to rear returns. Walling is painted render to principal elevation with simple rustication to ground floor; quoins, raised and chamfered plinth and smooth render string course between upper floors. Windows to principal elevation are: to ground floor 2/1 timber-framed sliding sash in canted bays; 2/2 to first floor with continuous sill and moulded architrave with projecting moulded cornice. Variety of timber-framed sash windows to rear elevation, including a round-headed multi-pane opening to first floor.

The principal elevation faces north and is three windows wide; ground floor having central single panelled timber door with recessed moulded surround and round-headed plain transom light, accessed by three stone steps.

East gable is abutted by adjoining building; HB 23/20/065G.

Rear elevation comprises asymmetrical fenestration to main elevation; recessed bay to left abutted by small single storey extension, which is further abutted by two-storey gabled return; two storey return also to right with two window openings to ground floor at gable end. Modern PVC windows to exposed sections of both returns; left return with modern timber half-panelled door. Roughcast rendered walls to left and right abutting gable ends (wall to left is sloped) with modern timber fence and central gate enclosing yard.

West elevation is abutted by adjoining building, HB 23/20/065E.

Setting

Lawned front garden with central pebbled pathway accessed by four stone steps; enclosed to both sides by hedgerow. To the rear there is a communal pathway separating the house and garden; garden bounded to south by tall hedgerow.

Roof: natural slate
Walling: render
Windows: timber
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

Ardmore Terrace was built in the late 1840s and the houses were let, either as bathing villas or on more permanent terms, to the professional classes who were beginning to be attracted to Holywood, following the opening of the railway. (Merrick, p.56-9)

The terrace is shown on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858 captioned “Ardmore Terrace”. The Griffith’s Valuation fieldbook for the period (1856-64) lists the buildings initially with the name of “Ormeau Terrace”. It also carries an undated newspaper clipping advertising the renamed villas for rent, “Villas in Holywood at reduced rent. To let and immediate possession given, two houses in Ardmore Terrace. The houses have each a garden and the use of extensive grounds and contain Dining room, Drawing room and Seven Bedrooms with Hot and Cold Baths &c., and a never-failing supply of Water, without pumping. For a permanent tenant, very moderate terms would be made…An Omnibus plies from every Train, Fare 2d. Apply on the premises; or to James Greenfield, Post Office, Holywood.” Although the lessor, John Simms, may have sought to let the houses to a ‘permanent tenant’, it appears that the houses may have, on occasion, been used as bathing villas and rented seasonally, and if so the valuation records may not reflect every change in tenancy.
At the time of Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64), number five is occupied by Captain Arthur M Skinner and is leased from John Simms with a valuation of £41. A plan and dimensions of the house are given. The valuer comments, “Each of these small houses has 1st storey: D.Room, parlour, closet, pantry and kitchen, 2nd storey: 2 large bedrooms, bathroom, closet and servants room, Return: scullery, store rooms and servants rooms.” Between 1880 and 1887 the valuations were dropped slightly but no reason for this is given.

By 1880 the occupier is Margaret Davidson and then follow Maria McCammon (1902), Andrew Jameson (1919) and William Grant (1928).

The house also experienced some periods of vacancy. In 1902 the immediate lessor becomes William Gilliland, who also occupied one of the houses. He was an architect, engaged mainly in commercial and industrial projects such as the Ormeau Bakery, Belfast, and was also active in public life as a founder member of the Ulster Society of Architects and a city councillor for Victoria Ward. (www.dia.ie)

References:
Primary Sources
1.PRONI OS/6/3/1/2 – Second Edition OS map 1858
2.PRONI OS/6/3/1/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1900-02
3.PRONI OS/6/3/1/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1919-31
4.PRONI OS/6/3/1/5 – Fifth Edition OS Map 1938-41
5.PRONI VAL/2/B/3/1 – Griffith’s Valuation Map (1856-64)
6.PRONI VAL/2/B/3/18B – Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64)
7.PRONI VAL/12/B/17/10A-G – Annual Revisions (1867-1930)
8.PRONI VAL/12/B/17/11A-C – Annual Revisions (1888-1930)
9.Medical Times and Gazette, Vol II, 1867, p.364

Secondary Sources
1.Merrick, Tony “Buildings of Holywood” Holywood: Holywood Advertiser, 1986
2.www.dia.ie – Dictionary of Irish Architects online

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A symmetrical two-storey three bay Victorian terrace house, one of a terrace of seven built in palace form. A substantial house reflecting the development of Holywood after the arrival of the railway. Much historic fabric remains intact, although the floor plan has been altered, and it is, along with the rest of the terrace, a fine example of the type. The setting has been compromised with the construction of modern housing (Ardmore Park) on the approach to Ardmore Court and further construction to the rear.